1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process cartridge removably mountable to a main body of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a developer container, a waste developer container, a method for assembling such a process cartridge, a method for replenishing developer in such a process cartridge, a support frame used in such a process cartridge and a method for assembling such a support frame.
An electrophotographic image forming apparatus is an apparatus in which an image is formed on a recording medium by using an electrophotographic image forming system. Such an electrophotographic image forming apparatus may be an electrophotographic copying machine, an electrophotographic printer (laser beam printer, LED printer or the like), an electrophotographic facsimile, an electrophotographic word processor or the like.
The process cartridge incorporates therein a charge means, a developing means or a cleaning means and an electrophotographic photosensitive drum as a cartridge unit which can removably be mounted to the main body. The process cartridge may incorporate therein at least one of a charge means, a developing means and a cleaning means, and an electrophotographic photosensitive drum as a cartridge unit which can removably be mounted to the main body, or may incorporate therein at least one of a developing means, and an electrophotographic photosensitive drum as a cartridge unit which can removably be mounted to the main body.
2. Related Background Art
In conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatuses using an electrophotographic image forming process, a process cartridge, in which an electrophotographic photosensitive member and process means acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally incorporated into a cartridge unit which can removably be mounted to the main body of image forming apparatus has been utilized. By using such a process cartridge, the maintenance of the apparatus can be performed by the user himself without any expert, and thus the operability of the apparats is considerably improved. Thus, process cartridges have become widely used in electrophotographic image forming apparatuses.
In such process cartridges, there has been proposed a technique in which a toner (developer) container containing new toner can be detachably mounted to a main body of the process cartridge (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-257146).